A Colorado couple has filed a metal-on-metal hip implant lawsuit against Wright Medical Technology for a variety of injuries allegedly stemming from device failure and metallosis.

Plaintiffs Leslie J. Weed and his wife filed the hip implant lawsuit over issues Weed had with the Wright Conserve Hip Implant, which he received on Jan. 13, 2010. Soon after, Weed began experiencing pain, which eventually led doctors to diagnose his complications to be device failure and infection in the surgical area.

The hip implant complications lawsuit will be part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL. Similar to the other plaintiffs in this collection of hip implant lawsuits, Weed alleges that Wright deliberately concealed the potential side effects he could experience, while having full-knowledge of the risks.

Additionally, Weed argued that he was not given full disclosure at the time he had chosen the Wright Conserve as his hip implant. Because the full list of side effects were not given to him at any point before or after the surgery, Weed states that he could not have made a reasonable decision at the time. In the hip implant lawsuit, Weed insisted that he never would have used the device if he had known about the possible side effects.

Weed and his wife argued that Wright had the responsibility to warn them and other patients about these side effects. The metal hip lawsuit accuses Wright of negligence, false advertising, concealing information, and misrepresenting a product.

The Hip Implant Lawsuit is In re: Wright Medical Technology Inc., Conserve Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2329, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

Overview of Wright Conserve Hip Complications

The Wright Conserve Plus hip replacement is a metal-on-metal artificial hip system, manufactured by Wright Medical Technology. Like many other metal hip implants, it is meant to be a replacement pelvic joint for patients with failing or damaged bones. Similar to other metal hip implants, the Wright Conserve was thought to be superior to its ceramic and plastic cousins, because it was generally believed that metal hip implants were more durable. Additionally, they became vastly popular among younger patients because it was said that they could handle more intense movements, like running.

However, soon after metal hip implants were released, it was discovered that many of them shared the same design defect. The ball-and-socket joints of the hip implant had the tendency to shed metal ions into the patient’s bloodstream, which caused a variety of problems. Among these complications is metallosis, or blood-metal poisoning, which has been been one of the most commonly reported, along with device failure, tissue infection, severe pain, immobility, and the formation of non-cancerous cysts.